Soil containing radioactive materials such as uranium, plutonium and various fission products requires expensive cleanup and remediation. Such cleanup and remediation can involve the use of both physical and chemical separation methods. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,999 describes a chemical process for the treatment of soil contaminated with plutonium where the contaminated soil is contacted with an aqueous solution including carbonated water, a conditioning agent and a complexing agent, i.e., the anion of a carboxylic acid having from 2 to 6 carbon atoms.
In addition to contaminated soils, large quantities of sludges and storage tank wastes, e.g., underground storage tank wastes, containing actinide components exist. Separation of the actinide-containing components from either soil, sludge or storage tank waste could substantially reduce disposal costs.
Magnetic separation of actinides has been previously examined. For example, the use of a rare earth permanent magnet roll separator and an open gradient magnetic separator on samples with particle sizes of nominally greater than about 50 microns for separation of plutonium particles was described by Avens et al., "Magnetic Separation as a Plutonium Residue Enrichment Process" Separation Science and Technology, 25(13-15), 1967-1969 (1990). Such conventional dry magnetic separation techniques cannot be applied to samples with particle sizes of less than about 50 microns due to electrostatic forces. Despite previous efforts in cleanup of soil containing radioactive materials, the need for effective, economical processes remains.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a process for the removal of actinide-containing components, e.g., actinide metals, from, e.g., soil, and particularly a process for the removal of actinide-containing components, e.g., actinide metals from, e.g., soil mixtures with particle sizes less than about 50 microns.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a process for the removal of actinide-containing components, e.g., actinide metals, from, e.g., soil, employing magnetic separation of the actinide-containing components, e.g., actinide metals.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for removal of actinide-containing components, e.g., actinide metals, from, e.g., soil.